Espresso Machine Cleaning

How to clean a coffee maker

Cleaning your espresso coffee maker is a critical part of maintaining coffee (I know right? Cleaning? Ugh). Knowing how to clean your coffee is not only important to avoid damage and to extend the life of the appliance, but to always get the best flavour in your coffee- no impurities or strange aftertaste.

Coffee Machine Cleaning – Everyone has to do it!

How do I clean a coffee maker? This is the question that many users ask. Cleaning an espresso coffee maker, fortunately, it is not as difficult as it seems. You just have to know the basic components of a coffee maker and how clean each one. Let’s go over it, explaining everything clearly.

How to clean an espresso coffee maker: the coffee group

The brew section is a part that suffers the most wear, comprising all lines and internal circuits along which both water and coffee or milk travel. Therefore cleaning the brew section is recommended as part of basic daily care (or however often you use it), and other cleaning follow guidelines from time to time also detailed below.

Coffee Time!

First, we will explain how to clean the brew section every time you use your espresso coffee maker.

After preparing your coffee, you should remove the brew section (if you can in separate pieces, even better) take apart and rinse with hot water. It is important to always use hot water, never detergent or other abrasive products for cleaning your coffee maker. You can also use a brush or cloth to remove dirt or debris that you cannot see without removing the section.

If you have specialise coffee maker cleaning fluid, before removing the brew section to rinse we recommend you do the following: put a little liquid in the filter, set it as if you were going to prepare a second coffee and put the machine on for a few seconds. Do this several times. With this you get the cleaning fluid flow through the whole section and clean inside.

If the dirt is so embedded (for example if you have neglected to clean the machine for a while) it may not be enough to rinse the brew section and you can let it soak for several hours in hot water. This shouldn’t often be a problem though.

How to clean an espresso coffee maker: the heater

The heater or boiler is used to heat water or milk used in the preparation of coffee. Follow the instructions on your coffee machine for how to remove the heater, or at least how access to it. Once you’ve got it, wipe it with a wet cloth or dip it in hot water for a while to let it soak. Interior ducts (along which all liquids involved in the coffee mix) are very thin, so sometimes it is not enough just to rinse and you must use tools such as pins, needles or the like – improvise!

How to clean an espresso coffee maker: the holder

The holder or coffee basket , is the piece where the filter with the ground coffee is placed. To clean an espresso coffee machine and keep it in good condition you should never neglect to clean the holder as it is an element that is in permanent contact with the raw material: ground coffee.

To clean the filter holder of your espresso coffee maker, I advise you not to store the filter holder in the coffee machine. Yes, we know we all do, but it is not the most hygienic option. Instead, rinse the holder well after having used it, dry it with a cloth and store it separately. The next time you prepare coffee, it will be completely dry, clean and new.

How to clean an espresso coffee maker: decalcification

For de-scaling an espresso coffee maker we must use a liquid which can be a liquid softener such as the official Saeco liquid softener that we show in the picture (you can consult your machine manufacturer for their preferred brand) or home compounds such as mixtures of water and vinegar . If you get a chance, we will always recommend the first option.

Once you have the liquid softener , you should go through all the internal passages of the brewer, usually through the filter or in the water tank and put the pot in place as if you were to make coffee. When you’ve done that, do the same but with clean water. Repeat this process several times to make sure the ducts no longer have any more liquid softener . If you have any questions you can always consult our guide for de-calcification of coffee capsules.

And that’s it … hopefully this guide has helped you learn how to clean an espresso coffee maker (many of the recommendations here also serve to clean coffee capsules) and of course you know if you have any tips or comments we’ll do our best to answer them.